Page 72 of Protecting Hailey

But in the next instant, someone cocked a gun behind us.

“Put the knife down, Ingrid.”

Ingrid squeezed my shoulder, and she pressed the blade, now warmed by my skin, harder against my vein.

“I won’t ask you again. Drop it or I swear I’ll fucking shoot you.”

Christian’s presence had always been intimidating, but his deep voice uttering those deadly words downright made my knees shake.

They must have had the same effect on Ingrid, because the knife slid down my neck and hit the floor.

I stumbled away from her, grabbing onto the counter as my entire body shook.

Christian kicked the knife across the kitchen floor, and it landed under the table.

Despite my trembling, I couldn’t stop my next words. “You were the one who tampered with the machine?”

Ingrid stood still, but she shifted her eyes to face me. “Of course. I planned everything. Even that stupid feud with Kendra was all me. I sent messages to her from your account bashing her music.”

I closed my eyes. How could I have been so stupid?

“Ingrid, I don’t understand. You did this all because your sister lost some stupid competition?”

She raised her arm, but Christian pulled it back. “Don’t even think about moving. Answer her question.”

She scowled. “It wasn’t stupid. It changed your life and it should’ve happened to us, not you. We should be living in this house, driving fancy cars, and living in Hollywood Hills. This should be my life, not yours. You took it from me. Now, I want to take everything from you.”

I recalled the competition from five years ago. The girl who came in second was talented, but she came across just a little too shy.

“You didn’t have to do this. Your sister can still have a career. I’ll help her.”

She scoffed. “Help her? You can barely help yourself. You’re not talented. You’re pathetic.”

“Then why punish me?”

“Because you are everything that’s wrong with the world. You took something you didn’t deserve from someone so much sweeter than you. You’ve been nothing but rude to me.” Her voice cracked.

I recalled the times I’d been short with Ingrid and I flinched. I’d been so focused on myself and my career.

“I’m sorry I was harsh, Ingrid. But that doesn’t give you the right to do what you did. You need help.”

“You think I need help? You stupid, conceited bitch!”

Ingrid lunged for me, but Christian wrapped his arm around her middle. “That’s enough.”

Pulling Ingrid out of the kitchen, Christian called out. “Hailey, I’m calling the police.”

He pulled a kicking and screaming Ingrid towards the front door. Her wedged sandals scuffed up my floor.

My back slid down the island until I sat with my head on my knees. Tears fell down my cheeks, but I didn’t bother wiping them. My body felt numb, as though I couldn’t move my arms or legs even if I tried.

My mind replayed everything that had happened in the last few months: the stabbing, the scandals, the phone call. While I don’t think she had hired the man in the coffee shop, her fake texts to Kendra instigated it. She was probably upset when he hadn’t completed the job.

It was awful knowing someone wanted you dead. They thought your life was so worthless.

A little while later, police sirens wailed in the distance, yet I still couldn’t move.

Doors slammed, and loud voices drifted through the open door at the front.

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